Of Avatars and Satomobiles
by Shinobi of the Onyx Sands
Summary: A letter delivered to the Avatar invites her out to tea and is simply signed 'A. Sato'. As Korra tries to figure out what it is Asami wants from her, Amon continues to plot revolution, threatening Republic City. M for Violence & Yuri Korra/Asami
1. Chapter 1: The Letter

"Good evening folks! Tonight we bring you another great match in the Pro Bending circuit. Tonight's match-up is between the fan favorite Fire Ferrets and the positively powerful Penguin Seals. It looks like this may be a close one folks and to all our radio listeners out there we wish you could be here in this arena tonight to watch what is sure to be an amazing match."

"Alright. Korra, Bolin and I have faced off against these guys before. They hit hard and they hit fast but they burn out so just keep on your toes and let them do the hard work for us. We'll outlast them and then go in for the win." Mako said as the Fire Ferrets were coming out to the arena.

Korra smiled as she nodded her agreement to the tactic. She loved playing fast but she knew that wearing her opponents out was just as important as knocking them out of the ring. She double checked the strap the held her helmet in place as the three of them stepped out onto the ring and waved to the fans.

It was funny to Korra how, even though the entirety of Republic City knew she played for the Fire Ferrets, when it came to game time, the whole crowd treated her like just another player from a really good team. The cheers weren't for just the Avatar but for the Fire Ferrets as a whole team. Bolin and Mako were just as important here as Korra.

Korra's thoughts instantly went to fighting as she heard the bell ring for the first round. A barrage of Earth and Fire lashed out at both her and Bolin. Korra blocked the fire easily with a shield of water and lashed out at the Penguin Seal's Firebender. The hit caught him and tossed him back into Zone Two and he was quickly followed by his two teammates whom Bolin and Mako had forced back as well.

The Fire Ferrets advanced and put pressure on the Penguin Seals, trying to conserve what energy they could and forcing their opponents into committing to big attacks that would wear them out. The buzzer went off as the Penguin Seals' Waterbender went sailing of the back of the ring courtesy of a really well placed one-two shot from Bolin and Mako.

Korra went on the attack and soon had the Earthbender off the back of the ring and into the water below, leaving only the Firebender standing. All three Fire Ferrets hit the lone player with everything they had and quickly had their first one round knockout of the season.

The bell rang as the match was announced over and Bolin jumped up and down. "WHOOO! We're the best. Oh yeah! Totally kicked butt out there! Fire Ferrets are so the best ever!" He turned to Mako and Korra hugging the both of them. "Great job you guys! A few more wins like that and we can go hit up the next tournament."

Mako smiled as he said, "It's not always going to be that easy. We'll keep working on our skills and keep training."

"Mako….it's always more training with you. Can't we just enjoy the win and take a break for a few days?" Bolin begged.

"Last time we took a break you ended up out of play for a month when the Rabbaroos' Earthbender broke your arm." Mako said bluntly.

"That was one time! And it was a lucky shot."

"Come on you two." Said Korra with a giggle in her voice. "We can take the day off and train tomorrow."

As the three of them were coming back from changing out of their uniforms, a messenger boy ran up to Korra and said, "Message for you ma'am. The sender said to read it when you got the chance and to do so in private."

Korra took the letter and eyed it. "Who sent it?"

"They told me not to say. I'm sure you'll find out when you read it." The messenger boy smiled and sped off on foot yelling back, "Have a nice day!"

Bolin peered over at the letter in Korra's hands. "Wonder who'd send a messenger boy to give you a letter. Not like it's impossible to find you."

"Maybe they wanted to give it to Korra without knowing who they were because they're a fan and would be nervous. Come on Bolin, you know we've gotten fan mail like that before." Mako said as he headed off. "Anyways I'm off. I'll see you guys at practice tomorrow."

Bolin smiled as Mako walked off and the slyly said, "Sooo, you going to open that letter Korra?"

"Yeah" Korra said, pausing long enough to let Bolin get excited. "When I get to Air Temple Island."

Bolin's face went from completely excited to totally saddened by the news that he wouldn't be seeing what the contents of Korra's mystery letter was. "Aww…you're no fun."

"I'll see you tomorrow Bolin." Korra said before whistling for Naga and heading back to her home on the island.

After dinner with Tenzin and the rest of the family, Korra went to her room to relax for the evening and took the letter out of the pocket she had put it in. The only thing on it was her name written with very crisp and neat handwriting. Korra hadn't seen her name look that good written since one of the members of the White Lotus taught her how to read when she was little.

She slid a finger under the seal and unfolded the letter. She took her time and made sure not to miss anything in case it was something important. The letter simply read, "Korra, I guess you're wondering why I'm writing you this letter. Well it's because I want to meet you and take you out for tea. I know it is short notice, but I want you to meet me at the Jade Dragon tomorrow evening. I can explain things better in person than I can a letter. A. Sato."

Korra re-read the letter over a half dozen times. Surely this wasn't Mako's Asami sending her a letter. And even if it was, why would Asami care if Mako knew that she was sending her a letter? Korra's thoughts raced as she tried to calm her mind and fall asleep.

Sleep didn't come easily to the young Avatar and when it did it seemed like all she could dream about was Asami. Korra tried her best to put thoughts of Asami out of her mind and focus on some of the Airbending basics. Even though Korra slept, it wasn't a nice, gentle sleep. She felt totally unrested when Jinora woke her for morning meditation.

"Ughh….Can't I just skip morning meditation?" Korra said as she groggily got to her feet.

"Nope. Daddy said you had to do morning meditation no matter how tired Pro Bending makes you." Jinora said sweetly.

Korra sighed as she put on her boots, recalling last night's dreams as her reason for not sleeping well and not the match. She joined the Airbenders for meditation and sat down, crossing her legs as she did so.

"Good morning Korra. Jinora tells me you didn't sleep well." Tenzin said quietly. "Thinking about Amon again?"

Korra grimaced slightly at the mention of Amon. "No, it's nothing like that. Just some…bad dreams. That's all. Nothing to worry about.''

Tenzin sighed inaudibly. He worried about Korra and knew that dreams often had a reason for being. He decided to let it slide this morning and quietly composed himself to meditate. It didn't last too long though as Korra huffed loudly.

"I'm sorry Tenzin; I can't focus at all this morning." Korra said, trying to word how she was feeling in a way that wouldn't anger her Airbending teacher.

"Korra, we've been over this. Patience is something Airbending requires and I know you're tired and a little frustrated, but you can't let that get to you."

"I know, but it's not that I'm frustrated or tired or anything like that. I just can't focus today." Korra said, turning her eyes away from Tenzin and staring at the ground.

She knew her focus this morning was shot because she kept thinking about her dreams from last night and even worse, found herself daydreaming about Asami. Korra silently yelled at herself trying to say that the Avatar shouldn't be this confused or conflicted about someone and a letter they sent. Korra slowly stood up and said, "Sorry, but I'm going to take a walk to clear my head."

"Korra, wait…"Tenzin said, but his words fell on deaf ears as he watched the Avatar walk off. He sighed to himself, wondering if it there was something that Aang would have been able to say to her that would have done something.

Tenzin's thoughts were broken when Ikki giggled and said, "I bet it's about some boy she likes."

Tenzin cleared his throat and stared at Ikki who immediately went back to meditation with a loud and over-done "Ohm." Tenzin sighed again and wondered why the fates had decided to give his children his father's childish nature.

Korra wandered over to a cliff on the island that was well over sixty feet from the water. For anyone but a Waterbender, the fall would have broken bone. Korra however willing jumped off and pulled the water towards her to cushion her fall into the water. The cold water felt good as it wrapped around her body. Korra loved feeling the sensation of being wrapped up in the water. Part of it was the fact that water was her original element and the other part was that there were no distractions under the water. Everything down here was completely silent and even the sea life that was normally around usually gave anyone swimming a good bit of space.

Korra just swam under the waves for a good ways before surfacing about halfway out to a small island she had found on her first trip out into the bay. There wasn't anything overly special about it, but it gave her a place away from Air Temple Island to think. Her thoughts were still stuck on Asami's letter and why it had been sent. Korra knew Asami was going to explain the letter to her when they met up at the tea house. The thought of the tea house Asami had mentioned made Korra worry. She didn't have any fancy clothes that would be appropriate for a place like the Jade Dragon.

She did have that one more slightly formal version of her usual clothes, but she had a feeling that it might not be good enough, even if she was the Avatar. Korra did have a few Yuan she could spend but anything fancy would be well out of her budget and she knew it. She sighed and jumped off her little island and headed back to where she called home.

After arriving back and drying herself off using her Waterbending, Korra rejoined Tenzin and did her best to meditate and found that she still couldn't focus. Her ability to focus still hadn't come back even by the time she was in the middle of practice with Bolin and Mako. She kept missing blocks and didn't take easy shots that both of the boys knew she should have taken.

"What's with you today, Korra? Yesterday you were playing the best we've seen in a while and today you're all just, blah" Bolin said as Korra got back up from yet another strike from Mako.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep well last night."

Mako look at Korra with concern in his eyes. "Dreams of Amon again?"

Korra took her helmet off and tossed it into the catch net Bolin used for simple practice. "What is it with everyone thinking I' not sleeping because of that...that lunatic! I know Amon is a threat, I know I have to do something about it but right now I can't, okay?"

"Whoa…Korra, calm down." Mako said, gesturing with his hands. "It was just a question. You're not the only one who doesn't sleep well because of Amon."

Bolin had hidden behind Mako during Korra's tirade and whispered over his shoulder, "He does evil things in dreams! Like taking Pabu's talent!"

Korra genuinely laughed at Bolin's comment. She didn't have the heart to tell them anything about the real reason she couldn't sleep. After that, the practice went fairly smooth, only a couple of hiccups on Korra's part, but Mako seemed happy as they all went their separate ways for the rest of the day.

Korra was about to head over to a snack stand when the same messenger boy who had given her Asami's letter ran up holding a package. "The sender told me to tell you that this is for you, and that they think you'll appreciate it." And just like that, the boy was off running again.

Korra walked back into the arena practice area and up into the girl's changing room. When she was sure no one was around she opened up the package. Inside was a tastefully designed, deep sapphire colored evening dress and a note.

"Korra, I thought about it after sending you the letter and realized you might not have something to wear to the Jade Dragon. I had to take some guesses, but I hope this fits you just fine. I'll see you this evening. A. Sato."

Korra held up the outfit and was stunned. The blue silk shimmered gently and had an almost iridescent ripple like water. The clasps that held it together were gold in color and Korra imagined that gold was exactly what they were made out of. She stripped out of her normal clothes and slipped on the dress. It was surprising to her how well it fit, but the thing that struck her as the most wonderful thing about it was that it felt exactly like diving head first into the cold waters around Air Temple Island. It was this that let Korra know that, no matter what Asami had to say tonight at the tea house, she would enjoy her night out.

(Author's note: I don't think I've ever had a setup to a story literally take up a whole chapter before, but this series is totally worth it. Despite being relatively new, seeing as it's still currently airing, I wanted to take a crack at writing a Legend of Korra fic and I wanted to do something that, after much looking around in the community, not too many people have jumped on. Hopefully you will all enjoy it. Happy reading.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	2. Chapter 2: Tea for Two

Korra tucked her normal clothes into her personal locker and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress Asami had gotten for her was one that had a more traditional look to it and Korra thought that it would have fit well in Aang's time, though it would have been a bit more on the higher class side of fashion back then. Korra liked how it looked, but she knew that if she had to fight in it her bending would be severely limited or would tear the outfit to shreds. Still, this was supposed to just be a quiet night out at a tea shop with Mako's girlfriend. Nothing weird about that at all.

Korra slipped on simple sandals instead of her normal fur boots. She hoped that no one would be able to instantly recognize her as she made her way through the city on foot to the place Asami had mentioned. Korra loved how busy the city felt, it was like it had its own pulse. But as Korra disappeared into the crowd she knew that there was something wrong at the heart of the city and that problem had a name.

Amon.

The masked non-bender was standing at the front of a room watching his cadre of Equalists working diligently to further his goal. He knew that their time to rise even further into the conscience of Republic City was nearing and Amon knew exactly where to strike next. He wanted to take down the two things that reminded Republic City of its roots in the Bending culture.

Soon, Amon would take out the Status of Avatar Aang and Firelord Zuko. And the fallout would be glorious.

On the other side of the city the young Avatar had just arrived at the Jade Dragon, completely unaware of the planning that Amon had for the city. She was greeted at the door by a rather low key gentleman who asked if she had reservations. Korra took a guess that Asami would have reserved them a table and said, "I believe the reservation would be under Asami Sato."

"Ah, right this way Miss. Miss Sato is expecting you." The waiter said and then escorted Korra to Asami's table.

Asami smiled as Korra sat down across from her. She was glad to see that the outfit she had bought the Avatar fit her so well. She was even happier to see that Korra had actually come here. Asami had been worried that Korra wouldn't come to the Tea House.

"I'm glad you came Korra. Sorry I was so vague with my letter but I couldn't think of how to put in words what I want to say to you tonight."

Korra stared a little at Asami. She sounded so serious and it made Korra have a note of worry in her voice as she asked, "What did you want to talk with me about Asami?"

Asami took a sip of the tea in front of her. She had ordered a local favorite that had been made for years and was simply called Uncle's Jasmine Tea. The jasmine calmed her nerves as she spoke, "It's hard to say this out loud but…I'm going to break up with Mako."

Korra was shocked by the news. She knew it would devastate Mako. Part of her natural curiosity sparked a question. "Why are you breaking up with him? Mako cares for you, a lot."

"I…there's someone else…and lately I've been feeling like Mako has been putting everything into Pro Bending. I keep feeling like he doesn't have time for me. And lately my thoughts have been on someone else." Asami said as she stared down at the table. She hoped Korra wouldn't ask, but she knew the question was coming.

"Who is it? Is it some rich guy who lives the high life like you?" Korra said, trying her best not to sound too sharp and failing.

Asami blushed and said, "Well…it's not a guy…and I'm pretty sure she's not rich. Though she does have some fairly important connections around town."

Korra was surprised that it was a girl Asami was talking about, but this kind of gossip was too much for her and she egged Asami on. "Come on, who is it? It's not one of Lin Bei Fong's Metalbenders is it?"

"No, but you're on the right track. She is a Bender and a rather talented one at that." Asami said, trying her best to not give away her secret crush too soon.

"Come on Asami, I'm dying to know!" Korra said before quickly adding, "Oh! It's the Rabbaroos' Earthbender isn't it?"

Asami smiled and said, "Well she is a Pro Bender, just not a member of the Rabbaroos. And she can Earthbend."

Korra nodded, totally engrossed in what Asami was saying.

"And Waterbend."

Korra's mind spun as she tried to figure out who could do such a thing.

"And Firebend." Asami added last. "Oh and I hear she's learning Airbending."

Korra's face went from excitement to surprise and then to confusion in very short order. "Wait, hold on. You're telling me you like me?"

Asami blushed and took a sip of her tea. "Yeah…I have ever since I overheard you telling Mako how much I needed someone after we found out about my dad. I can understand if you think it's weird."

"I don't think it's weird I just, I've never had anyone tell me they liked me before. Not without me pestering them about it anyways." Korra said as her mind still raced around Asami's words.

Then it hit her like a ton of rock. Asami liked her.

There was a moment of silence that Korra finally broke. "So, let me get this straight. You want to break up with Mako, who you think has no time for you anymore and the person you want to be with is me. I'm the Avatar Asami. I'm so busy I'm amazed I had time to come out tonight."

"I know, but there's just something about you. It's not that you're the Avatar, but that you have this innate sense of knowing when someone needs to be comforted. You don't have to be told to hold someone while they're crying, you just do it."

"Look, Asami, as much as I would love to, I don't know how Mako is going to take me stealing his woman." Korra said, recalling how Lin and Tenzin had once been a couple until Pema had come along. Now it felt like Korra was in Pema's shoes but her 'Tenzin' had turned out to be a 'Lin' instead. Korra had no real preference over being with a guy or a girl. Lifetimes spent in various genders during the Avatar cycle had blurred the distinction between genders when it came to love, so she didn't see anything wrong with being Asami's girlfriend. But Korra knew that it would affect Mako and she would hate to lose such a good friend.

"Mako's a strong boy. He'll move on and find someone else who can deal with his super focus on things other than someone he cares for." Asami said with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Korra saw the expression on Asami's face and could tell that she had been hurt by Mako's carelessness. "Asami…I hope I don't ever do that to you. I hate seeing people I care about getting hurt." Korra said as she tentatively reached her hand out for Asami's.

Asami smiled as Korra took a hold of her hand. For someone she had seen be so aggressive when she was fighting, Korra's touch was beyond gentle. "So…you care about me like I care about you?"

Korra nodded slowly. "Yeah, but I know that this is something we'll have to take one step at a time. You have to understand my main responsibility is to Republic City and my duties as the Avatar. I will try to be there for you when you need me most though. Katara once told me that love isn't something you rush and that the strongest bonds of love are built over time."

Asami smiled even brighter as she listened to Korra's words. Here was the girl she had been constantly thinking about since that time around the track in the Satomobile racer at the track behind the mansion. The rest of that day's memory was hell, but there were two moments that made her think that her liking Korra wasn't a mistake.

The fun of being so close to her while racing was the first moment. The second was Korra's selflessness at telling Mako that Asami needed someone to comfort her. Asami knew that Korra had had some feelings for Mako, but the feelings had always seemed to be more of a teammate and the fact Korra finally had people her own age to be around for once.

"I'm fine with taking our time with this. I still need to tell Mako I'm leaving him." Asami said, moving her hands from Korra's to sip at her tea.

"Yeah…that's definitely going to have to come first. You know you can come see me at Air Temple Island if you need to after you tell him." Korra said with a smile.

Asami smiled back and said, "I appreciate that Korra. That means more to me than you know. I was so scared you wouldn't like me enough to accept my liking you. Much less the fact that I'm a girl and so are you."

"I think it's because of the fact that, being the Avatar, I've been through so many different lifetimes and the experiences are still there and the line between genders just doesn't matter. All of the Avatars in my past lives accepted love as just that, regardless of any notion of gender. It's probably something that took a few lifetimes to learn, but I know in my heart that I like you for who you are and I wouldn't care if you were the same gender as me or not." Korra said matter-of-factly.

To Asami it sounded like Korra was speaking not just as herself but it sounded almost like the voice of all the lives before her. It was a simple fact that most people forgot, but Asami realized that the person sitting in front of her had a spiritual connection to every last one of her previous lives stretching back centuries and that it gave her wisdom well beyond her years.

Asami finished her tea and smiled at Korra as she said, "I'll be seeing you soon. I'll try not to make too much of a scene when I stop by Air Temple Island."

Korra laughed and said, "Good luck. The Airbender kids make not making a scene impossible."

Asami giggled and thanked Korra for coming out and gave her a gentle hug and quickly kissed her on the cheek before heading out, paying for the check as she left.

Korra blushed as she watched Asami leave the tea house. She finished her own tea before heading back to the arena to grab her things. Her reflexes were the only thing that saved her from having her head knocked off by a medium sized boulder that had been launched at her.

"That's from the Triple Threat Triads! Go back to the South Pole!" Yelled a thug who roared by on a Satocycle.

Korra shot a glare and punched a flaming fist at the thug in vain. She had had problems with the Triads since day one here and things still weren't patched up and probably wouldn't be after that incident with Lightning Bolt Zolt and Amon. These sort of pot shot attacks weren't terribly uncommon, but they were starting to get dangerous to not only herself, but to the people around her when they happened. The last hit had almost taken out a cart that a vendor was selling things out of and only Korra's fast reflexes saved the shop from being completely obliterated.

The rest of the trip over to the arena was fairly uneventful. Korra counted herself lucky about that. If it wasn't the Triads giving her hell, it was the Equalists. Korra sighed as she walked into the Arena locker room. She knew that it was her duty to protect Republic city from threats like this, but it felt like all of the people's hope that the Avatar would bring balance had been placed in the wrong person. Then Korra remembered the kiss Asami had placed on her cheek.

There were still people here that believed in her despite how much worse things had seemed to become since she had arrived. Korra blushed as she put her regular clothes back on and headed home. It wasn't long after she got home that she ran into Tenzin who was being no so secretively followed by Ikki. "Oh hey Tenzin, how're things in the council?" Korra said brightly, trying to distract Tenzin from the fact that she had been gone for far longer than she normally would be on a practice day.

"Things are going roughly. Tarrlok is still pressuring Lin to step down as chief of police. Lin's just biding her time until she can pick an appropriate replacement before doing so. But it's me who should be asking you questions. Where have you been? Surely practice did not take that long today." Tenzin said as serenely as possible

Katara smiled sheepishly and said, "I went out for tea after practice. Must have lost track of time."

"Korra was out with boy. It only makes sense Daddy." Ikki said with an overly excited tone.

"Korra, is this true?" Tenzin asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"W-what? No! I was not out with a boy. I was out getting tea by myself. There is no boy." Korra said defiantly and surprisingly telling part of the truth.

"There's the Firebender boy that you like so much that's on your team." Ikki said in one breath.

"I do not like Mako!" Korra yelled before storming off.

Tenzin sighed and said, "Ikki, sometimes it's bad to press people for the truth when they don't want to admit it."

Ikki nodded and just watched Korra storm off. She had a feeling she might just be right about her assumptions of Korra, but she knew that her father was often right when it came to dealing with people.

Korra yelped as she almost ran into Pema. "Oh I'm sorry Pema, my mind was elsewhere."

Pema giggled softly and said, "Thinking about whoever gave you that kiss mark on your cheek?"

Korra blushed and mentally kicked herself for not checking if Asami's kiss had left lipstick on her face. "Yeah…I didn't have the heart to tell Tenzin about it."

"Well I'm sure whoever she is; you must like her a lot." Pema said with a warm smile.

"I…but…how did you know?" Korra asked, surprised that Pema had guessed it so easily.

"Mother's intuition and there's the fact that only girls wear any amount of make-up that would leave a mark on you. " Pema paused as she saw the worried look on Korra's face. "Don't worry, I won't tell Tenzin. You can do that yourself when you're ready. Besides, I can gather that the kiss on your cheek is probably the farthest anything has gone yet short of holding hands."

Korra looked at her feet and said, "Yeah…that's it. She still has to tell her current boyfriend she wants to leave him."

Pema gave Korra a gentle, motherly hug and said, "Take your time with love and you'll be rewarded with someone you can honestly say that you want to spend the rest of your life with them no matter what happens. Even if you have three Airbenders for children."

"Thanks Pema. It means a lot to me that you understand things." Korra said as she returned the hug.

Korra wished Pema a good night and headed off to her room. She made sure to shut the door behind her and then stretched out on her bed. Her mind was filled of thoughts of Asami, but instead of them keeping her up this night, the thoughts were like Asami's warm hug and Korra fell fast asleep.

While the Avatar slept, Amon was gathering his forces together. There would be no rest for the masked man tonight. No, tonight was the night he would strike fear into the heart of the city and its champion the Avatar. Amon stood at the base of the statue of Firelord Zuko and stared up at this public affront to non-benders.

"Soon, everything shall be equal and no more will non-benders have to cower in fear in the shadow of Benders." Amon said to himself as he returned his gaze to the troops.

Tonight would be glorious. Amon was sure of it.

(Well…to say I'm surprised at how much traffic the first chapter had would be an understatement. I've never had something get that many favorites in that short amount of time. Hopefully this chapter stands up with the quality of the first. I had fun with this one. I'm finding out that writing someone like Asami is incredibly fun because she's so upper class and her social upbringing would make her a little more proper than someone like Korra. And for those wondering about Amon's appearance all I can say is, there's more to it than what there appears to be. That said I hope you all enjoy reading this. The next chapter is coming, so don't worry, just be patient.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	3. Chapter 3: Breaking the Spirit

"Korra."

"Korra!"

"Avatar Korra!"

Korra shot upright in her bed and as soon as her eyes opened she saw something that shouldn't be there. "You…You're Avatar Aang!"

"I'm glad to see your connection with the Spirit World is not so wholly broken as my son and the White Lotus think." Aang spoke with a voice that seemed to echo in Korra's ears, like she was hearing it from within herself.

"Why is it that you've come to me now? How come we've never talked before?" Korra asked.

"Because you were not ready. You are a headstrong Avatar and if you have learned anything from Tenzin and the White Lotus, our personalities are quite opposite. But I've come to you now only for a brief time. You must stop Amon." Aang said, his ethereally blue eyes serious.

"I know that, but every time I face him I know I'm going to lose. He can take people's ability to bend the elements."

"I know. Which is why he must be stopped totally. But tonight my message is for you to stop him now. He has plans of destruction that will rip the city in half if they go unchecked. You will find him by the Statue of Zuko."

"Wait…how do you know this?"

"The spirits are to be listened to, for they can tell you many things you would not learn of otherwise. My good friend the Moon Spirit has been keeping an eye out on things here in the physical world. I know Amon is planning to take away the peace Zuko and I tried so hard to build."

Korra thought for a moment and then gasped. "He's going to take out the two biggest symbols of Republic City's roots. He probably figures they are the biggest reminder of the fact that the whole city was founded and built by Benders."

"Precisely. And that's why you must stop him tonight. If Amon pulls this off, there's no telling what effect it have only that I would be willing to bet that it would be the spark of another one hundred year war."

Korra fully came to her senses, snapping out of the spirit world with a gasp and she grabbed her gear and ran out of her room at full speed. She had a feeling that there wasn't going to be enough time, but she had to try. She bolted out of the temple and jumped as far as she could out into the bay, sweeping up water below her to catch and then accelerate her toward the city.

While the Avatar raced, Amon was still observing the preparations to destroy the eyesore that was the statue looming over him. He knew that, even if somehow the Avatar came by to stop him there was a backup plan in place. He may not see these statues destroyed, but new of the attempt would still sow fear into the city. Terror and fear were something Amon considered himself a master of controlling.

He moved from his station, pacing slightly as though waiting for something that was expected. There was this nagging doubt in the back of his head that something was watching him. He shook it out of his mind and looked over at his Lieutenant. "I have a feeling we are about to witness either the greatest destruction ever or the fall of someone that the city holds dear."

"You sound like you expect the Avatar to be here dying."

"Dying? No, not that. Death is too kind. I want to break her and take away everything. I want her to live as a shell of herself and forever be known as the Avatar who failed and for me to become the one known as the man who broke the cycle of the Avatar and ended the scourge that is Bending."

The Lieutenant basked in the beautiful horror of his master's words. Amon's words painted a tapestry of pure fear and wove a tale of despair. It was glorious and the lieutenant wouldn't have missed any of it for the world.

Korra ran faster than she ever had before. She knew right where Aang had been talking about and she was glad the streets of republic City were emptier at this late hour. Going off on Amon would have had collateral damage in the day light and harming innocent civilians was something Korra didn't want to have happen, accident or otherwise.

Her feet slid on the pavement as she turned the corner and ran down the street to the courtyard where she could now see the fires of Zuko's statue. And standing on a box, lit by the firelight was the man she was looking for. She ran through the courtyard, defending herself as Chi Blockers poured out from their tasks to assault her. She blasted them with earth, fire and water as she ran at Amon.

Amon couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched the furious Avatar plough effortlessly through his guards. He was going to enjoy this fight.

"Amon! Come here and fight me like a man!" Korra yelled as she tossed a boulder at a Chi Blocker, sending him sailing.

"I think Amon is too busy for you." Said Amon's Lieutenant as he struck out at Korra with his stun sticks.

Korra's mind immediately went to her Airbending training and she effortlessly dodged the attacks, trying her best to counter with Firebending. Nothing seemed to hit the Lieutenant and Korra knew she was certainly try to hit him.

"You are not worthy to touch Amon with your evil Bending" said the Lieutenant as she swung a blow at Korra's face.

Korra moved just a touch faster and caught the Lieutenant's arm by the wrist and as she threw him she said, "You're in the way." He went sailing across the plaza as Korra resumed her charge at Amon.

"Foolish young Avatar. You know you cannot win, but if we must let us fight. I told you before, I will not take your bending just yet so please, feel free to come at me with everything you have." Amon said as he effortlessly caught Korra's first blow and redirected the fire she had been aiming at his head.

Korra did exactly as Amon asked and threw everything she had at him. Fire, Earth and Water flowed freely as she brought an onslaught of attacks that came like rapid fire punches. She was deaf to everything but the sound of her own heartbeat and the pulse of the Ki in the battle.

Amon was pleased to see the Avatar putting so much behind this attack. He almost felt remorse for wanting to take her bending. Almost. Soon enough he would, but he was saving that pleasure. For now he was content to dodge her attacks and when there was a slight pause in the flow of attacks, Amon struck back.

Korra was instantly winded as Amon's fist found itself crushing her diaphragm. Korra gasped for air and found nothing there as Amon's fists found their mark again on Korra's cheek. The hit stunned her and she felt pressure on her chest as Amon's foot tried to bury itself in her, throwing her backward several feet.

Amon slowly dropped his foot and then walked over to Korra who was struggling to get up. He smiled behind his mask as he put his foot on her back and forced her to the ground. "As much as I enjoyed our little fight, Avatar, it has ended. This outcome will never change. You are fated to lose against me and I Amon shall go down in legend."

"You…you…can...take your legend…and…shove it…" Korra said between gasps of air that weren't enough for her to be able to properly breathe.

Amon's anger overcame his control and he withdrew his foot from Korra's back only to bury it in her ribcage with as much force as he could muster. The impact picked her up off the ground and sent her limp body sliding across the courtyard.

When Korra failed to even move, Amon looked at the statue of Zuko and decided that tonight would have a different message. It would be one of destruction and the statues would stay. No the message would be one of how powerless the Avatar was to stop him. He would put her broken, unconscious body out on public display in the courtyard for people going to work in the morning to see.

The sunrise found the courtyard slowly filling with workers. The traffic wasn't going to the trains as quickly as it normally did. It was slowly gathering around something different.

The crowd was surrounding a post that had been driven into the ground. On it was an Equalist Flag carrying Amon's face and tied to the post by her wrists was a very badly beaten and bloodied Korra, still unconscious from the fight last night.

One of the people in the crowd was Asami who, upon seeing the post went over to see what it was. Her expression changed in an instant to pure horror when she saw Korra. The beautiful girl she had been talking to yesterday was slumped over and blood was dripping out of her nose and mouth from wounds that still looked quite fresh. Asami yelled out Korra's name and found it falling on deaf ears as she did her best to untie her through all of the tears.

Korra came around just as Asami finished untying her and was holding her in a warm embrace, crying. Korra felt weak as she said, "You're going to get blood all over your nice clothes Asami."

"Korra! You're alive! Thank the spirits." Asami said as she hugged Korra tighter.

"Oww…Asami my ribs are broken…don't squeeze." Korra said, weakly smiling at seeing how much Asami really did care for her.

"We have to get you home." Asami said as she looked around for a second.

"I can help there." The crisp tone of Lin Bei Fong's voice came from behind Asami. "We'll bring you and Korra to Air Temple Island right away. I know Tenzin is beyond worried at your disappearance when he noticed you were gone this morning."

Asami nodded and helped the Metalbenders put Korra on a makeshift stretcher and load her in one of the smaller airships. Asami held Korra's hand the entire way over, not caring if anyone here thought that there was more to it than her just being friends with Korra. Right now, all that mattered was Korra getting better.

Upon arriving at Air Temple Island, Tenzin looked at Korra in shock. He hadn't seen anyone beaten this badly in years, and he had seen some of the worst gang attacks in the city. He thanked Lin for bringing Korra so quickly and gently carried Korra to her room.

Asami followed on Tenzin's heels and watched as he carefully put Korra down. "I understand you're one of Korra's friends Asami, but it may be better if you leave while Korra heals. She may not want anyone around."

Korra looked at Tenzin and said quietly, "No…I want her to stay…"

Tenzin sighed softly and said, "I can't argue with that. I'll bring you whatever you need Asami and Korra, you rest up and heal. We'll talk about what happened when you're back on your feet."

Korra thanked Tenzin and after he walked out she asked Asami to shut the door. The light hurt her eyes and she knew immediately that she had a concussion. Amon had beat the living hell out of her and she had been powerless to stop it.

Asami sat down on the floor next to Korra and started wiping the blood off her face with some fresh towels that Pema had put there earlier when they had gotten the news of Korra's whereabouts and condition. Asami did her best to clean up what she could, but the cuts would bleed no matter what she did, so she did her best to just stop the blood from getting all over the place.

"Thank you, Asami. I'm sorry you have to see me like this…I don't know what I was thinking but I know I stopped something much worse from happening."

"What could be worse than seeing the city's symbol of peace strung up on a post half dead with a flag over it clearly saying who did it? The radio will be going nuts over this attack for weeks. Whatever real goal Amon had last night, what he ended up doing was a far worse blow to the city than any physical destruction."

"I'm sorry…I'm a failure as an Avatar…" Korra said dejectedly.

"You're not a failure. Amon is very powerful and you need to master your powers as the Avatar to be able to face him." Asami said, trying to pick Korra's mood up out of such a depressed state.

"Last night, I felt unstoppable while I was running up to face him. I was tossing his guards left and right and then he beat me down like I was some weak little thing that was merely annoying him and all he had to do was swat at it."

"You'll win next time Korra." Asami said as she looked at the sad look in Korra's eyes. It hurt to see the person she loved hurting so badly.

"What if there is no next time Asami?" Korra said, looking into Asami's eyes.

"The only way there won't be a next time is if Amon kills himself. It's the Avatar's destiny to bring balance and you were meant to bring balance to Republic City by bringing Amon down. It's fate that there will be a next time and when it comes time for it, I know you'll win. I believe in you." Asami said, smiling as she said the last sentence.

Korra smiled and motioned for Asami to come over. When Asami scooted close enough, Korra gave her a gentle, soft kiss. "Thank you Asami. That means a lot coming from you."

Asami blushed bright red at Korra's kiss. "When I was getting on the train this morning, I was coming to see you. I told Mako I was leaving him last night. He took it well and after we said our goodbyes he didn't even say anything to stop me from leaving and he just went back to training."

Korra reached out her hand and brushed it across Asami's cheek. "That must have been hard to do."

"I know I made the right decision. And now I know I'm going to make another right decision. Korra, I want you to be my girlfriend." Asami said boldly as she took Korra's hand in hers and held onto it gently.

"I would love to be your girlfriend Asami. Thank you for being here." Korra said with a smile as she kissed Asami's cheek.

"Thank you for telling Tenzin to let me stay. I'll have to ask if there's an extra room here. I don't want to leave your side." Asami said, looking fondly at Korra.

Korra smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. I'll tell Tenzin to let you stay in here. He knows you're a good friend of mine and he won't mind it I think. I just hope the kids don't start thinking we're a couple."

Asami giggled and said, "But we are a couple Korra."

"Well yeah, but we don't need it going around the temple faster than a Hog Monkey chasing a Flying Ring-tailed Lemur." Korra said, trying her best to not laugh and irritate her ribs.

Healing was the worst and Korra hadn't been this badly injured since a training accident when she was mastering Earthbending and had missed a block and hadn't dodged in time. That time had felt a lot less brutal than last night and she had been crushed by a rather large boulder that time. At least this time she had someone at her side that would be there for her whose company she would enjoy.

For now, she had Asami and that was enough. Asami leaned over to give Korra a kiss and Korra felt all of her worries just melt away. Today was a new day. It was also the start of something Korra would do anything to protect and keep. She would go through all of this again just to keep Asami safe and happy.

(Well…that is one of the fastest chapters I've ever written and that's saying a lot. I don't really have a whole plot down for this, just a loose shell of what I want when I start each chapter. Writing Amon and getting the whole sense of how evil he is was so much fun. I ended up not only drawing on the character himself, but shades of the Joker to get the twist in Amon's character to where it felt like the show. Call it unorthodox, but I think it worked well. I hope you enjoy this chapter as you read it. There's definitely more to come here. Where it's going to end is hard to say at this point in it all, but it's definitely not here.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	4. Chapter 4: Healing the Heart

Korra winced as she woke up and tried to move. Everything felt like it was on fire and even just breathing felt like she was swallowing shards of metal. "Oww…this hurts way more than it should." She said, trying her best to stay still and not aggravate things.

"From what Tenzin has told me you're lucky that you only broke about ten ribs. He said any more and the shock would have probably killed you." Asami said as she walked into Korra's room carrying a pot of tea on a tray that also had some medicine and bandages.

"Tenzin letting you stay?" Korra asked, forgetting she had told him to let Asami stay the night before.

Asami smiled at Korra and helped her sit up so she could drink some tea. "Yes, he's letting me stay. He did put up the argument that you need your rest at night so I can't stay in here with you all the time, but I will try to be here for you whenever you need me while you heal up."

Korra smiled and took a sip of the tea. As she did though, the taste immediately offended her taste buds and she had to force herself to not spit it out. "Ugh! What is this?"

Asami almost laughed at Korra's reaction to the tea. "It's a mix of ginseng, lavender and lotus blossom with some medicine in it."

Korra smacked her lips noisily and said, "Tastes like really bad water after a Swamp Bender has taken a bath in it."

Asami laughed at Korra's comment. "I'm sure it's not quite that bad. Swamp Bender water sounds much worse."

"Have you ever been hit in the face with a Swamp Bender's attack?" Korra said with a smile, knowing the answer. "That tea, tastes just like that."

"But you still need to drink it, Korra. I want you to get better and Tenzin said this would help until you can withstand using your own healing skills." Asami said as she looked into Korra's bright blue eyes.

Korra couldn't help but notice just how pretty Asami was just staring at her like when Naga had as a puppy. Korra reached out and brushed a loose strand of hair out of Asami's face. She winced a bit as the effort to move hurt and sent bolt of pain up her side.

"Hey now…don't go being all loving if it's going to hurt." Asami said softly. "I can do enough of that for the both of us until you're better and we can go out on a proper date."

Korra sighed as Asami took a hold of her hand. "I just...I feel so helpless. Amon beat me so soundly and…"

Asami interrupted Korra by placing her finger on Korra's lips. "Shush. None of that now. Don't let yourself get tied down by what's happened. You can't change that."

Korra blushed at the touch and said, "Katara used to tell me that. She said it was one of Aang's biggest hurdles to overcome when he was younger. He blamed himself for the Hundred Year War, but Katara told him that had he stayed, the Avatar might have been lost for good, instead he was given a chance to end the war."

"And you've been given the chance to stay alive, heal and then deal with Amon when the time is right. What he's doing is evil and how he's justifying it horrifies me." Asami said with a sad look in her eyes. "You've heard that my mother was killed in front of both me and my father by a Firebender. Amon said he had something precious taken from him by Benders and that's why they need to be stopped, but I have a very similar tragedy happen and here I am, the girlfriend of the Avatar, telling her that Bending has its place in the balance of things."

Korra smiled at Asami and said, "Thank you for believing in me so much…even when I've lost faith in myself. Amon's tough but I know I can win."

Asami kissed Korra's cheek and then said with a smile, "That's my girl. Now, how's about some more tea?"

Korra tried to not laugh at the suggestion of more tea. "No thanks…I'd rather have Naga sneeze on me than drink more of that tea."

Asami faked a frown. "Aww, but it's good for you."

"Your young friend has a point Korra." Tenzin said as he walked into the room to do a check-up on Korra to see how she was doing.

Korra was grateful her luck was with her still and that Tenzin had missed Asami's statement of their relationship. "But it tastes awful, Tenzin. Isn't there something that tastes better than this?"

"Unfortunately no. It's an old Airbender remedy that is known to heal pretty much any ailment. At least you only have to drink the one pot of it for the full effect to take a hold."

Tenzin had barely finished his sentence before Korra took a hold of the whole teapot from Asami's hand and chugged the whole thing dry. "Ughh…well at least that's done and out of the way." Korra said, taking a moment to try to see if there was something nearby to get the taste out of her mouth.

Tenzin sighed and hung his head. "I didn't mean for you to drink it all at once. You're lucky you didn't throw it all back up."

Korra sighed, knowing it was going to be a long road to recovery no matter how well she was cared for or what healing had been used. She had been through this before; the only thing that healed was time and patience. Korra felt like she had all the time in the world now, but patience was a virtue that the young Avatar lacked entirely.

A week passed and Korra was able to be on her feet if nothing else. She had decided to go with Asami to one of the parks in Republic City to get away from her home for bit after being cooped up there for so long. Korra smiled to herself as she recognized this place as where she had first had her run-in with the police forces of Republic City.

"Thanks for taking me out today, Asami. It's nice not seeing the temple for once." Korra said with a smile as they walked along through the winding paths of the park.

"It's my pleasure. That and I've seen how on edge you were the whole time trying to get back to the point where you could stand up."

Korra stumbled and Asami caught her, preventing her from falling into the pond they were walking by. Korra blushed slightly and said, "Well I can almost stay up one hundred percent of the time. Still kinda relearning the whole balance thing. It's going to take a day or two to even feel remotely like normal."

Asami smiled and once she got Korra back on her feet she smiled and said, "Well that's why you have me nearby. I'll be there to catch you."

Korra pulled Asami into a hug and after quickly checking that no one would see; she gave Asami a kiss. "Thank you. I'm glad I have someone like you around."

A short while later they ran into Bolin who was trying to get passers-by to put coins into a hat while Pabu did tricks. He smiled when he saw Korra and Asami walk up. "Hey there you two. Been a while since I've seen you. How're you healing up Korra? Saw in the newspapers that you got beat up pretty bad."

Korra smiled at Bolin and said, "It's slow but going. I feel bad that I'm going to miss a few matches and ruin our chances for the tournament."

"Nah, it's all good. Mako completely understands. Besides, as long as you're not out for more than three games, we still have a shot if we don't lose another match for the rest of the season." Bolin said, trying to put a positive spin on things.

Korra hoped she wouldn't be out that long. She knew how much getting into the tournament meant to Bolin and Mako as well as to herself. It was something she was good at and could win at. It was the right spot of hope in her life that the darkness of Amon's looming shadow seemed to be unable to touch. Of course there had been the last tournament, but the arena had recovered from it, the teams shook off the shock of it all and went right back to it like nothing had happened.

"I'll do my best to not miss too many games. I just hope that once I can get back to Bending again that I won't be a liability on the team. Healing from injuries like this is not easy and it takes me a lot longer to get back to full power than I like." Korra admitted, having to lean into Asami to stay standing up.

Asami did her best to support Korra as she looked over at Bolin whose eyes clearly had a lot of disappointment in them. "Don't worry Bolin. I'm sure when Korra gets back to playing you guys will knock the competition right out."

Bolin smiled and Pabu jumped up on his head, doing a handstand. "Thanks you guys. I just hope Mako agrees with that."

"Agrees with what?"

Asami almost jumped and let Korra fall over at the sound of Mako's voice. Only Korra reaching out and saying, "Whoa…falling." stopped Asami from moving as she ended up having to catch Korra for the second time that day.

Bolin looked over at Mako and said, "Oh just that we're totally going to kick butt when Korra gets back on her feet more and can get back to Pro Bending."

Mako looked over at Korra and Asami. It was a bit sad to see his teammate so badly hurt but seeing her with his ex-girlfriend made him almost furious. He shut down his thoughts, not wanting to jump to any stupid conclusions like he always did. "Well, just heal up as fast as you can, Korra. It'll be lonely in the practice room without you there for a while."

"Well, Tenzin has put me on a strict 'No Pro Bending' rule until I can move around without someone nearby to help me. Right now I feel like a baby penguin seal learning to walk." Korra said with a light smile as she tried to stand up straighter and ended up having to lean on Asami yet again.

Mako just sighed and said, "Well, take care of yourself. Don't need you coming back too early only to get hurt again."

Bolin waved his hand at Mako in a dismissive gesture. "Don't sweat it bro. Korra will do just fine. You'll see."

"Yeah, I guess we will. Well I'm off to work. See you guys around later."

As Mako walked away Bolin said, "Wow…it's been a week and he _still_ won't even acknowledge you're around Asami."

"Not that he acknowledged me when I was with him."

"Yeah I know. I heard the argument. I think that it's better this way. You're happy and Mako's just going to keep burying himself in Pro Bending like he always has." Bolin said with a sad note in his voice.

"Bolin…for what it's worth, I still care about you and your brother, just more as friends though. " Asami said, trying weakly to sort-of apologize.

"Come on Pabu." Bolin said as he got up. Pabu jumped up on his shoulder and he started to head off before saying over his shoulder, "Thank you Asami. I just hope Mako comes to his senses about all of this."

Asami sighed heavily as she watched Bolin leave. Korra looked at her and asked, "You still wish there had been a way to do this don't you?"

Asami looked at Korra and said, "Honestly? I wish I had run into you first to be honest. I'm not saying that just because we're together now. It was only through Mako that I really met you. I just wish we had met earlier and that I hadn't been stupid enough to go out with Mako."

"You weren't stupid." Korra said as they made their way back out of the park and headed home to the island. "You've never been stupid. You just didn't know what you really wanted in a person. Honestly, when I first met Mako, I was a bit infatuated with him too. Then he brought you along and for a while I was jealous of him. Now I'm realizing I wasn't jealous I couldn't be with him, I was jealous because he had you and I didn't."

Asami smiled and kissed Korra's cheek. "Well now you have me and we're going to make the best of that, aren't we?"

Korra nodded and smiled as the two got into a taxi and headed to the port to head home. The ride home was fairly quiet. Korra spent the vast majority of the ride home leaning on Asami's shoulder. She felt exhausted. Not just from the walk today and not just physically from healing up either, it was an emotional tiredness too. So many things had happened today that made her feel like she was responsible for doing more harm than good to the one person she was willing to admit she loved.

For the second time since she had come to Republic City, Korra was scared. This time though she wasn't sacred of dying or losing her bending. This time she was scared that she would lose the person who had told her that they would be there for her when she needed them the most.

Back home on the Island, Korra and Asami were sitting in Korra's room after a much needed change of bandages and some fresh medicine that dulled the pain. Korra was on her bed and Asami was behind her, idly braiding Korra's hair. It was something that relaxed the both of them and Korra let out a contented sigh.

"You know…I'm still a bit worried about us and what will happen when people find out that the Avatar is dating one of the most well-known young women in the whole city." Korra said as she did her best to sit still for Asami.

"I know what they will say." Asami said. "They'll be saying, 'that's one lucky Avatar to have such a wonderful person'."

"I hope that the people of this city accept us when the time comes to have to say anything about us." Korra said. She felt happy knowing that Asami still thought the best of her and helped bring her out of her more self-defeating moments.

Asami paused in her braiding to tie up the loose ends as she spoke. "Tenzin told me something the other morning when the newspapers came in talking about what happened. He said that a city or even a world that does not put its faith in the Avatar to bring balance, risks not only angering the spirits in the Spirit World, but also angering the Avatar and all of their past lives and bring about a balance of the sort that would wipe clean the slate."

"I know not every Avatar was as peaceful and such like Aang, but even to me that seems a bit much. I want to bring balance here in a way that won't force the cycle of hatred to begin again. Part of me wants the relationship between us to work out so well because if we may, I'd be sending a statement of not only love, but of equality between Benders and Non-Benders. Obviously there are a ton of personal reasons I like you, but that one reason is the biggest public reason I have for choosing you." Korra said with a smile.

Asami nuzzled Korra's neck and said, "There, all finished with your new braids. I know they'll come out when you get back to Bending, but for now, they look cute on you."

Korra smiled and was glad that she had Asami. It made this whole past few days so much easier to bear.

Across the city, Amon was brooding. He felt that maybe his little demonstration of stringing up a nearly dead Avatar hadn't sunk in quite as well as he had expected. Sure the Avatar had secluded herself to heal, that much was easy to explain but the one odd piece of the usual Republic City puzzle that was out of place was an old comrade's daughter. Amon had contacts monitoring Asami Sato after Hiroshi Sato's arrest. The news had come back to him today that she had apparently struck up quite the friendship with the Avatar and had been staying on Air Temple Island to give her some company while she healed.

Amon smiled to himself. His sources had told him that until recently, Sato had been with a fellow teammate of Korra's who had become immensely focused on Pro Bending since the fallout. He knew exactly where to strike and he knew that a good search and rescue would do the Avatar more harm than good, especially if he could capture her new friend as well.

He looked over at his Lieutenant and said, "Bring me the one called Mako. You should find him still living in the Arena now that it has been repaired. And make sure it is noticed. I want the Avatar to get wind of this."

"As you wish Lord Amon. We shall get it done." And with that the Lieutenant disappeared and Amon went back to watching the lights of the city. The night was still young and there was much to do.

(I had a bit of, 'where do I go now?' plot issues this chapter. I spent a good bit of it trying to figure out how much I wanted to balance not only story progression but Asami and Korra's relationship as well. That said, once I got going it wrote itself. I like how this story is coming together and I'm still working on it. There'll be a new chapter up soon, be patient and if you really like the story, drop me a review. Feel free to tell what you liked and possibly didn't like. I hope you all enjoy reading this and I will do my best to keep it enjoyable as the story goes into the future.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	5. Chapter 5: Stealing Fire

Bolin woke with a start. All his still half-asleep mind could process was the sound of electricity and fire being thrown around. At first he thought that it was Mako just practicing, but as his mind became more aware of the origin of the sounds, he could hear that the lightning didn't have the same sound as when Mako made it using his bending skills.

Bolin jumped out of bed and ran toward the sound, worrying that Mako was in trouble and worse yet, that the trouble he was hearing sounded like Equalists. As he came into view of the room where the sounds of fighting he could clearly hear now were, he saw Mako Bending not just for practice, but to save his own life.

Surrounded by seven Equalist fighters and one that Bolin recognized as Amon's second-in-command, Mako was at a clear disadvantage but he was still holding his ground. Bolin joined in on the fray and soon the two brothers were bending the elements of Earth and Fire in a deadly dance of harmony as they did their best to win a fight that had come out of nowhere.

"Mako, what on earth happened? Who did you tick off this time?" Bolin asked as he dodged a blow and struck back with a quick jab that brought up a small rock that flew at his target, missing it barely as they dodged out of the way.

"I didn't tick off anyone. I have no idea where these guys came from. I think it's just Amon trying to get to Korra through us." Mako said as he shot fire at two of his three assailants, dodging the third's strike.

Bolin smiled to himself as one of his attacks connected soundly, throwing the Equalist it had hit backward. "Well they're going to find it takes a lot to get through us."

Mako was about to reply when he was hit with a surprise attack from the Lieutenant that took his breath away as electricity arced through him. As he felt his knees give out and his vision began to blur, he saw Bolin trying to fight his way over to him, only to be thrown out of a window. As Mako slipped into unconsciousness, his mind knew only one thing.

The drop on the other side of that window was about seventy or eighty feet to the water below and that was assuming Bolin didn't hit the rocks. His brother would be dead on impact and there was nothing he could do.

Across the bay, Korra awoke suddenly and had to fight the urge to sit up quickly, knowing it would only hurt if she did. She sat up slowly and looked out over the waters of the bay to the arena. As she yawned, she thought she saw flashes of blue in the windows, but it was too far away to be sure and Korra knew that it might have just been her eyes playing tricks on her.

She turned her attention back to her room and smiled softly as she saw Asami, leaning against the edge of her bed, fast asleep. Korra assumed that Asami had just passed out from lack of sleep and hadn't gone to her own room. Korra did her best to not strain herself as she picked up Asami and put her on the bed. Korra winced throughout the whole time she had Asami's weight in her arms. She curled up behind Asami after she had made sure that her girlfriend would be fairly comfortable. Explaining this to Tenzin would be fun, but Korra knew exactly what to say about it.

A few hours later, Tenzin came in and saw both Asami and Korra in the same bed, still fast asleep. He smiled to himself, remembering the times he and Bumi would be up too late and end up passing out in one or the other's room. He decided to let the two have their sleep, after all the news he had from the now former Chief of Police would only serve to cause Korra more pain than she was already in. Tenzin knew he was going to have his hands full dealing with Korra's drive to go out and do something about the problem, but the fact remained that she was still injured and going after her friend would only serve to injure her more.

Behind him came the soft voice of Pema. "You know, she'll have to be told about it sooner rather than later Tenzin. She can't stay ignorant to the fact one of her teammates is missing and the other has been kidnapped by Equalists under Amon's control."

"I know Pema…I just don't want to hurt Korra. She's been through so much lately and I don't want to see our only chance for bringing balance back to the world end so quickly."

"I know you want to keep Aang's legacy alive and make sure that the city stays what he intended it to be. But Korra has a right to know this, even though it may ruin that chance to bring the city back to balance."

Tenzin let out a heavy, world-weary sigh and gave Pema a hug. "I know…I just…"

"It's okay…none of us were ready for this. I don't think anyone could have been ready for Amon." Pema said quietly.

Tenzin smiled at his wife and said, "I am still amazed by how wise you are and how you always seem to know exactly what I need to hear, even when I don't want to listen."

Pema smiled and headed off toward the kitchen. "It's the mark of a good wife and I know that's one of the many reasons you married me."

Tenzin smiled and then turned from the sight of his wife walking off to make breakfast. She was right and he knew that he had to tell Korra. He knocked gently on Korra's doorframe and said, "Korra, it's time to get up. I have something to tell you. Your friend is welcome to come and listen as well. I'll be out in the kitchen."

Korra and Asami both made disgruntled noises at being woken up, but they both got up and after a moment, went out to the kitchen where Tenzin was waiting for them. Korra still had to lean on Asami for support when walking, but it was getting easier to stand on her own two feet. They both took a seat and Korra asked, "So…what's this you had to talk to us about Tenzin?" Part of her worried he had seen them sleeping in the same bed together, but Tenzin's face told her it was something else and more serious.

"I'm afraid there's no way to gently say this. Your friend Bolin has gone missing and your friend Mako has been captured by Amon's forces. Lin and I have been working with the police to try to find Bolin, but so far all we've turned up is his pet Fire Ferret. There was apparently a scuffle at their apartment in the arena and there was one broken window. We assume one of Bolin's attacks broke the window. If anyone had gone out that, they would have fallen a rather long way into the bay or onto rocks and probably be dead if they had. We're not ruling out Bolin being with Mako, but we're not sure." Tenzin said, pausing for a moment to let it all sink in. "We only know Mako's whereabouts because Amon announced it on the radio. I'm fairly sure he would have announced if he had Bolin as well. Don't worry Korra, we'll find them both."

"Of course we will. Because I'm going out there to help." Korra said, anger burning in her eyes.

"You're in no shape to fight. You should know that." Tenzin said sharply.

"Who said I would be fighting? These are my friends Tenzin! If one of them is missing and the other was captured by Equalists then you can be sure I want to find them and there's nothing that's going to stop me." Korra said, trying and failing to stand up. Her eyes filled with tears of pain as what to her felt like hot metal lanced through her.

Tenzin looked at Korra and quietly said, "I know how much they mean to you. And I wouldn't try to stop you if you were completely healed. But you're still hurt and you can barely stand without help, let alone walk. Leave this to Lin and myself. We'll find them and bring them back, we promise."

Korra stared at the food that had been placed in front of her while she and Tenzin had been talking. Without saying anything else, Korra slowly got up and once she had her legs under her, she slowly walked off as best she could.

Asami started to get up to go after Korra but Tenzin shook his head. "Give her some space for a bit. And please, try to keep her here Asami. I know how much this affects you as it does Korra and right now you're the only friend she has who can be here with her. Lin and I won't sleep until we find Bolin and Mako. That much I can promise you."

"Will you fight to bring them both home?" Asami asked as she stared out the door Korra had left through.

Tenzin nodded and said, "If it comes to that, we will."

"I wonder if you have it in you to kill."

"W-what on earth makes you ask such a question Asami?" Tenzin asked, thoroughly surprised.

"Because I know I would kill someone who made Korra hurt that badly, because it hurts me just as much. Of everyone I know, you've spent the most time with her, you should know how it feels to see someone you care about hurt." As she finished speaking, Asami got up and went outside looking for Korra.

Tenzin sat back in his chair and let Asami's words sink in. But was it really the right thing to do? Revenge was not the same thing as killing to create peace and Asami's words had smacked of revenge to him. Still, there was something more to it there, but he didn't have time to question things as he finished breakfast quickly and then headed out to his flying Bison to go meet up with Lin. The next few days would be long and hard, but he had to do this for Korra.

Asami found Korra on the cliffs overlooking the bay and sat down next to her.

"You know, I used to come up here to go out to that island right over there and just think to myself. I would just jump right off and let the water take me under and it felt like all my worries were melting away." Korra said after a moment of silence.

Asami looked at Korra and said, "I wish I could make your worries go away Korra. I wish I could make everything feel like it didn't have to be this big worry." As she spoke, Asami reached out a hand to Korra's face and brushed a finger along her cheek.

Korra sighed as she felt Asami's touch on her face. It had such an oddly calming effect and Korra knew what she wanted to clear her mind. "Asami…kiss me. That's what would help make my worries go away for a little while."

Asami smiled and pulled Korra in for a gentle kiss. She put her best effort into it, trying to make it the best kiss she had ever given. After all, she wanted Korra to feel relaxed and not worried.

Korra felt herself melt into the kiss. She had known from their previous kisses that, although the current news wouldn't go away, this certainly made her mind relax and put her at ease. Korra deepened the kiss a little, putting a bit more passion into it than they had before.

Asami was surprised by Korra but returned the passion in their kiss. Asami could feel the love behind the kiss as well as the inexperience behind it, but it was more than welcome. She pulled Korra into a hug as they kept their kiss going for a few more minutes before breaking it slowly.

"Thanks for that Asami. I really needed that." Korra said, her face blushing bright red as she added, "I love you."

Asami smiled as she said, "I'm glad to be able to help in whatever way I can. I love you too Korra."

Korra leaned her head against Asami's chest as she said, "I hope Tenzin can get Mako and Bolin back."

"I do too Korra. I do too." Asami said as she held Korra close to her.

Out in Republic City the search for Bolin had come to a close. Tenzin had found the young boy on the shore, still alive but rather badly hurt. He had taken him over to a local hospital who told him that Bolin would be fine within a week and that the injuries the boy had were thankfully superficial. Tenzin had thanked them and reminded himself to ask Bolin how he had managed to not die after being tossed out that window.

Now all that remained was the rescue of Mako. Tenzin ran through the city to catch back up with Lin who had been on the trail of the young Firebender since that morning. He worried about how Korra was feeling; being stuck on the island and not able to be out here doing what he knew she was good at. He shook the thought from his mind as he spotted Lin and got up near her.

"Any good news for me Lin?" Tenzin asked, not actually expecting to hear anything good.

"Other than the fact that this is the place and that there have to be over a hundred Equalists in the building, no I don't have any good news." Lin said, trying her best to not be so abrasive around Tenzin.

Tenzin kept his stoic stare focused on the building as he tried to think of a plan. "We should have the Metalbenders go in from the sides while you and I come in from the front and back backed up by a squad each."

Lin glanced at Tenzin, surprised the Airbender had it in him to be so decisive about doing something that would potentially harm people. "Alright, let's do it then." Lin said as she gave silent commands to the Metalbenders around her.

A few short minutes later, the signal to go in was given. All four groups burst into the building, dropping into combat forms almost immediately. A quick glance around the building told them one thing that left them all confused.

In the center of the room, Mako was tied up, but beyond that, the whole building was completely empty. Tenzin lowered his stance and went over to the young Firebender, still mystified as to where the Equalist forces that should have been here were.

Mako was groggy from having been drugged and chi-blocked often to keep his bending under check. Still, as Tenzin began untying him, Mako tried to speak. "Don't….bomb…set to go off if…moved."

Tenzin caught the words and called over to Lin. "Lin, is there any way we could move him without tripping a pressure sensitive bomb?"

Lin's eyes went wide at the mention of a bomb. Explosives weren't rare, but to use them like this was inhumane. She cursed Amon loudly as she looked for the switch pad and then for the connections to the wiring. She looked up after a moment before saying, "How high can you jump in about two seconds?"

"With Airbending to help about a hundred feet, why do you ask?" Tenzin asked, wondering where Lin as going with this.

"Because, on the count of three, I'm going to launch the two of you as high as I can with Earthbending and then from there you jump as high as you can as fast as you can. Use anything you can to avoid the blast." Lin said as she took a few steps back from Mako.

Tenzin took a hold of Mako, being careful not to shift his weight off the pad too early. "But how are you going to survive?" Tenzin asked as he watched his question being answered as Lin used Metalbending to make a blast proof shield.

The three-count came and Tenzin felt the ground pushing him skyward and the instant it stopped, he jumped with all his might. He turned to see the explosion beneath him expanding at an incredibly fast rate as he held onto Mako. He got clear of the blast, but only by a very close margin. He was glad Lin's plan had worked because there would have been no second chance.

He floated himself and Mako to the ground and after he put the boy down, ran over to the building to see Lin walking out coughing from all the smoke. "Glad to see you made it Twinkletoes." She said; using an old name her mother had once had for Avatar Aang.

Tenzin huffed at the joke, knowing that he had been called that before by both Lin and her mother. "At least Mako is safe." He said with a heavy sigh.

Lin looked at Tenzin and said, "What about the other boy? Bolin I believe his name was."

Tenzin looked at the smoldering ruins of the building in front of him as she said, "He's alive, but he got pretty injured. The healers told me it would be about a week before he was completely healed."

"That's good; at least he got off better than Korra did." Lin said, looking out to where the island would be easily visible if buildings weren't in the way.

On the island still sitting on the same cliff were Asami and Korra, who had just heard and seen the explosion. Korra hugged Asami and said, "I just want this nightmare to end…"

Asami felt like all she could do was hold Korra to her and be comforting. "I know…we all want it to end, but there's only one end to this. You'll beat Amon and then the nightmare will end."

"I don't think I can…" Korra said as she nuzzled Asami.

Asami ran her fingers through Korra's hair. "You're the Avatar…it's your destiny to win against the things that threaten to put the world out of balance."

Korra started to cry onto Asami's shoulder as she said, "Then why does this feel like such a nightmarish hell?"

Asami sighed and said, "I don't know…but we'll get through this. Somehow we will."

The two held each other close and in the distance, even if it was only for a short while, the city burned, black smoke coiling out from the wound that Amon had inflicted. And the only emotion those watching it could feel was despair.

(Five chapters in and I'm still going. When I started this, I wasn't sure just how long I wanted it to be, and honestly I think I wasn't expecting it to be _this_ long already. I'm used to the whole 'chapter a week' approach to fanfiction, but this story just will not get out of my mind and I want to be working on it whenever I get the chance now, so the chapters update a lot quicker. Still, don't be surprised if there goes a day or two or even a week that goes without an update. I hope you all are enjoying this as much as I am enjoying writing it for you. Next chapter will come as soon as I finish it. Thanks for your patience.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


	6. Chapter 6: Into the Storm

The morning brought with it a bit of hope as Korra heard the first good news she had heard in a long time. Tenzin had come in and let both her and Asami know that Bolin and Mako were safe despite their injuries. Tenzin hadn't even mentioned the fact that he had found Korra and Asami sleeping together again. Part of him was beginning to wonder if there was something more to it, but he put it out of his mind. As long as Korra was happy and still safe, he was okay with whatever she did.

Korra nuzzled Asami's neck after Tenzin left. She felt so much better. Yesterday had been hell and she hated being such a failure of an Avatar. Asami made her feel so much better. Korra was rewarded with a soft purr from Asami as she woke up a bit more from her groggy state.

"Hey, I'm up already silly, no need to go nuzzling me to get me out of bed." Asami said as she smiled at Korra.

Korra smiled back and playfully said, "I just wanted you awake, I didn't say anything about getting out of bed."

Ikki came running in and Korra felt the moment between her and Asami deflate a bit. "Oh there you are mommy wanted to know when you two were coming down to breakfast and daddy said that you two were still getting up and that you wouldn't be down any time soon and I told mommy that I would come get you two up and moving so that we can all have breakfast and then we can go play with the Sky-Bison." Ikki said without pausing to take a breath.

Korra swore that had Ikki not been an Airbender the child would have had to take several breaths in order get out just half of that sentence. "We'll be right down Ikki. Run along and tell Pema for us." Korra said, trying to hurry the hyperactive girl along.

Asami giggled and said, "Well that was almost embarrassing."

Korra laughed and said, "Yeah, we better get down to breakfast before she starts suspecting things."

The two of them got up and as they walked to the dining hall, Asami couldn't help but ask Korra questions. "So, feeling any better?"

Korra nodded, the motion made her head spin as she said, "Yeah, as long as I don't make any sudden movements I'm peachy."

Asami had to catch Korra as she lost her balance again. "Peachy huh? Still having that whole issue with walking?"

Korra looked over at Asami who had a grin on her face. "Only when you're not around."

Asami thought for a moment before asking, "So…anyone you miss from back home?"

"What's there to miss? I spent my entire childhood under the watching eyes of the White Lotus and my teachers. I never had friends because there was no one my age in the Southern Water Tribe who would speak to me like a normal person. Everyone treated me like I was some special person that wasn't normal." Korra said, her eyes glossing over as she remembered a childhood filled with endless training and almost no social contact outside of it.

Asami could feel just how much Korra was hurt by memories of the past and decided to move on. "Well you are special, that's for sure. You're the Avatar, but not only that, you're my girlfriend. And you'll always be special to me and I'll always treat you like you deserve to be treated."

Korra smiled at this and said, "You always find the right words to say. I should have you start writing my speeches for me whenever I have to make public appearances."

Asami laughed loudly, "I'm horrible with writing speeches. I just speak what's on my mind and know is true. The rest the other person puts together to make it mean something to them."

As the two girls giggled and talked on their way to breakfast there was a storm brewing on the horizon. Amon had always kept an ear out for events outside the city and word had come down that a maelstrom the likes of which hadn't been seen in decades was about to come down on the city like a hammer. Amon looked over at the form tied to the post and smiled.

He had been overjoyed when the Airbender and the former Police Chief had survived his trap. He knew that playing with all of one's cards showing was a stupid move and this time his ace in the hole was one he would relish having. He silently paced over to the post and bent down too look at his prisoner.

"Time to wake up, Firebender." Amon backhanded his prisoner and when they came around he smiled behind his mask. "It's good you're awake. I can tell you the good news. You've been 'rescued' by your friend's mentor and the former Police Chief. They have no idea I still have you and I am going to use that to draw out the Avatar once more."

Amon slowly stood up and walked toward the window as the edge of the storm started to hit his hideout. Lightning flashed in the window, silhouetting Amon as he said, "I think you're going to like being a part of this storm, Mako. After all, they say the heart of the storm is the quietest and afterwards comes the worst of it all. You're going to be what draws Korra out into the heart and I will be there to be the wall of destruction when the heart goes away."

Mako tasted the blood in his mouth as he struggled to look up at Amon. Lightning flashed and Amon stood there watching the storm and Mako kept thinking that if only he weren't still partially drugged and still under Chi-Blocker restraint, a good fireball would end this stupid conflict right here. But what his mind wanted to do, his body couldn't and Mako felt himself slip into fear. He knew Amon would use him and that he would be partially responsible for what happened.

After having watched Bolin fly out of a window and disappear, Mako felt like not only had he lost a brother and his freedom, but he was about to lose the city their Avatar. And he felt horrible about the fact that there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Back at the breakfast table, Tenzin made an announcement. "I just heard that there is a rather nasty storm coming in and I took a look for myself on a glider. By the looks of it, we'll be in for a rough ride for a few days. I don't want anyone leaving the island for any reason without myself accompanying them. As far as being outside, I hope you all can use your judgment and common sense to avoid it."

Korra was surprised to hear that a storm that large was coming this way. She had seen blizzards and the like down in the South Pole, but this sounded worse the way Tenzin was talking about it. Part of her was curious to know just how bad it was going to be, but she knew that Tenzin wouldn't have given that warning without a reason.

The radio crackled as one of the White Lotus tuned into the local station. "Looks like we're going to be in for a doozy of a storm folks. You might not want to be outside for the next day or so and make sure all your pets and valuables are indoors or tied down. We're expecting strong winds and heavy rain. I'm sure the Waterbenders of the city will do what they can to prevent flooding but it will be expected. We'll keep you up to date on all of the events as the weather progresses. And now for our..."

The radio cut to static and then quickly stopped and out came a voice no one was expecting.

"Korra...help...Amon has me...the one Tenzin saved...was a trap."

Tenzin's eyes widened as he listened in. The voice coming from the radio couldn't have been what it sounded like. No, he was sure that Mako had been the boy he had saved from the trap Amon had set. Then it hit Tenzin. Amon was never one to only ever have just one single plan.

Korra looked at the small radio in shock. "You lied...you said he was alright, that Mako was safe with Bolin at the hospital."

"Korra, I..."

"No! I'm not listening to you. I'm going after Mako and Bolin and bringing them here like they should have been in the first place." Korra said, interrupting Tenzin.

Korra got up from the table and attempted to do her best to storm out of the room. She lost her balance and slammed a shoulder into the wall. In frustration and anger, she used Earthbending to just shatter it and keep going. The rain outside was already so heavy it soaked through Korra's clothes in a heartbeat. The radio and Tenzin were right, this storm was going to be brutal, but Korra wasn't going to let that stop her.

She was going to save Mako no matter what the cost was.

Tenzin wasn't terribly surprised by Korra's reaction. He was offended she thought he had lied though. It had been a mistake and one he was going to fix. "I'm going after Korra, Pema, you and Asami help the acolytes keep everything safe."

Asami blocked the doorway Tenzin was going to leave through. "I'm sorry Tenzin, but I'm going to be the one who goes after Korra. Right now she's in no mood to listen to you. Maybe she'll listen to one of her friends and come back. Even with your Airbending, I'm sure the weather will be too much for you. I may not be a bender, but I know how to handle myself in storms like these. dad used to make weighted boots for events just like this. He said they would keep you on the ground no matter how strong the wind got."

Tenzin sighed, knowing Asami was right. Even the greatest Airbender he knew had been overwhelmed by a storm just like this one. He silently hoped that Asami and Korra would be able to weather this one and that he would be able to find them. He didn't want anything to happen to Korra, but part of his mind told him that, if she got into trouble, she had far more experience to draw from than he could ever imagine. She had only to tap into it.

Asami ran as fast as she could in the heavy boots she wore. She was glad now that she had brought a pair with her from home. It was one of those things that made her think that maybe her dad wasn't such a bad person after all, but there was still that dark stigma around what had happened. Catching up to Korra wouldn't be the hard part and Asami knew it.

Surviving the storm would be the hard part.

Korra was glad that the wind wasn't driving the rain into her face as she headed towards the pier where the acolytes kept the boats tied up. When she got down to the stairs leading down, the sight that Korra saw was one of complete chaos. The ocean water looked like it was boiling as large waves pounded the small pier, making it completely disappear underneath the deep green of the water and the white of the spray. Korra knew the ride into Republic City would take someone who was either a brilliant sea captain or an expert Waterbender on a full moon. Korra knew that even on her best day, the trip would only be just this side of suicide. The way she was now, a single Earthbending move that was normally simple took almost all of her energy away

Asami watched as Korra just dropped to her knees, screaming out in anger at Tenzin, at Amon, at the weather, at everything. Asami felt her heart drop. It was a scream of absolute frustration and despair. Asami knew that Korra felt like her inability to get to Mako was sealing his fate. Asami knelt beside Korra and hugged her as she screamed herself hoarse and started crying.

Lightning flashed all around them and thunder rolled, drowning out any of Korra's screams. Asami just held onto Korra tightly and said into her ear, "It's okay Korra...Everything will be okay..."

Asami could hear how flat those words sounded and knew that there was nothing she could say to Korra that would bring Mako and Bolin to the safety of the temple. A bright flash lit up everything around them and Asami looked over Korra's shoulder and saw something that would haunt her dreams for a long time.

A wave that was easily as tall as the Sato mansion and five times as wide was tearing right toward them.

"Korra! We've got to move!" Asami yelled as she pointed at the wave.

Korra turned and her heart felt like it had fallen out of her. The wave was unreal in size to her. Then it hit her. 'Split the wave, save yourself and your lover. You have the energy. Do it.' came a voice in the back of her mind.

Korra let out a loud shout as she struck out with her Waterbending and felt the power in the wave. It was beyond immense as she tried to do something no Waterbender would normally attempt. As she felt her energy draining, Korra saw the wave split right in half like she had wanted it to. It barely missed her and Asami as it crashed into the island with a loud booming sound.

Korra turned around and grabbed a hold of Asami and the water rushed back past them and felt it tugging at her. She looked at Asami and knew that they were going to either have to run for the temple or risk being swept off the island entirely. The wind came up and to Korra, the rain felt like it was trying to tear into her skin. She did her best to ignore everything though and focus on getting her and Asami to safety.

her wish would go unfulfilled as another towering wave slammed into the island and tore both her and Asami off the ground and dragged them out into the sea. Korra managed to keep a hold of Asami and before passing out, the last thing to go through her mind was a memory of a boy and a sky-bison falling into the ocean in a storm and the way he saved himself and how she felt so powerless to even do something that like that.

Tenzin grew worried about Korra and Asami as he heard and saw the waves slamming into the island. he knew that there was going to be only one window of opportunity in this storm and that it wasn't going to last long, but he would try and use it to the best of his abilities to find Korra and Asami.

In his hideout on the other end of the city, Amon watched with an almost childlike wonder at the power of the storm and how it was wreaking havoc on the houses near the bay. Even more pleasing to him was the sight of devastation he could make out on Air Temple Island. Whole chunks of land that had stood there for decades was being eaten away by the waves.

He turned from his view and looked at his prisoner. He smiled to himself as he said, "Your friends aren't going to come by the middle of the storm. They are going to wish they had. I'm going to enjoy taking your bending away. And I'm going to make it so that your precious little Avatar cannot miss it."

Mako spat at Amon. "You can go to hell. Korra will come for me, you'll see. She's never let me down when I really needed her to be there."

Amon smiled behind his mask. "Foolish boy. You have no idea just how pitiful your trust in a broken Avatar is. Or have you forgotten the injuries your friend is still recovering from?"

Mako's eyes widened with fear. That was right. Korra was still healing and bending any element was not only painful for her, but the simplest of things took almost all of her energy to perform. He hung his head in despair. No one was going to come for him this time. Amon was going to take his bending away and there wasn't a thing he could do.

Amon noticed the look of resignation in Mako's body language. "I'm glad you've come to realize that I'm right." He put himself on Mako's level and looked at him in the eye as he said, "I'm going to enjoy watching you suffer."

Outside, the storm still raged and the lull in the wind and rain seemed like it would never come.

(Sorry about taking so long to get this one out. Putting in a new Operating System, having to get everything back onto it and re-installing Word took a lot longer than I expected. Still, it's nice to have my computer running faster now. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I wrote this arc in the story because I wanted to see just how far I can push both my talent as a writer and the story itself. I know the tone of Korra is dark and this keeps with that same tone but I hope I'm not going into the darkness too far. I hope you all enjoy the chapter. I'll put the next one up as soon as it gets done.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands.**


	7. Chapter 7: Wind, Rain, Thunder and Fear

Republic City was totally awash with rain and ocean water. The storm was exhausting the Waterbenders of the city who were trying to protect it. The destruction on the waterfront was beyond anyone's imagination. This sight of whole buildings just being torn off the ground and floating out into the ocean only to sink, looked like a scene out of someone's worst nightmare.

Water swirled around the floating ruins sloughing off from the city. The Metalbending Corps and the Waterbenders they had tasked to helped felt powerless against a force of nature this powerful. There was many a bender who thought that not even the Avatar at the height of their power would be able to save the city from ruin.

What they didn't know was that their Avatar wasn't even conscious at that moment. She was holding onto Asami as the two washed up on dry land. The storm did one thing that might have been considered mercy. When it washed Korra and Asami up on the shore, it pushed them up out of harms reach. It could have been fluke chance, but had anyone seen it, they would have thought that the Spirits controlling that storm saw fit to push the Avatar to shore on the highest wave possible.

Korra came to, coughing out seawater and completely disoriented. Her mind remembered storming out of the dining hall at Air Temple Island and then it just went black. Still, she could sense the fury of the storm and pulled herself and Asami up into a small cave nearby. Korra used her Waterbending skill to slowly draw the seawater out of Asami's lungs and she smiled as her girlfriend coughed and woke up.

"Where...where are we?" Asami asked.

Korra shook her head and said, "Some island in the bay most likely. That or on some part of the shore I've never seen. Either way, we're not on Air Temple Island as far as I know. I've explored it pretty well on my walks and I've never seen a place like this."

Asami shivered and huddled close to Korra. "How are we going to get back?"

Korra held onto Asami and quietly said, "I don't know...I've failed Mako and now I'm failing you...Some Avatar I turned out to be. I can't even protect those close to me. How can I protect the world if I can't even do that?"

"You haven't failed anyone, not yet. There's still a chance for Mako and for us. You can't just give up. The Avatar isn't some almighty hero that just comes in and saves everything. It's not just something that can be undone with a wave of your hand. Look at the Hundred Year War. Aang didn't start off just winning; he had to pick and choose his fights."

"Well I'm not Aang. At least the fights he picked he won." Korra said bitterly.

"That's not true, Avatar Korra." said Aang's voice inside Korra's head. "There were plenty of fights I picked that I could not overcome. In my time as Avatar I was told to be decisive when I did not want conflict and I almost ended up paying for it. Your task is hard, no one is denying that. But the worst thing for an Avatar to do is to hide or give up. I know exactly what the consequences of doing so are and the war that would result here would be much worse than anything Firelords Sozin and Ozai could have dreamed of. My advice to you is to persevere no matter how hard things get. And trust in your friends. They often have wisdom to bring to you, even if you don't expect it."

Asami stared at Korra who had seemed to just drift off entirely. "Korra! Hey, come to!"

Korra snapped out of her conversation with Aang and looked over at Asami. "Sorry about that...just got some good advice from a person who's a lot closer to me than I think."

Across Republic City, Amon was waiting for the one moment in the storm where he would be able to be outside for his grand show. He smiled to himself as he thought about the wonderful gift he would be giving to this poor Firebender. To no longer be under the curse of his burning hate and free from the desire to consume things with fire, yes it was glorious to think of and Amon couldn't help but feel joy at the thought.

Mako glared at Amon. He knew that the man standing nearby could very well just take his Bending if he so chose, but for once, Mako was glad Amon had a plan and wasn't going to just up and do it. It gave Mako time to think, and time to plan an escape. The only issue with escape was the fact that not only did he have to escape Amon, he would have to get past the hundreds of Equalists and Chi Blockers to get out, he would have to do it without anyone there to help him. He wondered if Bolin was even still alive. Seeing him get tossed out that window tore at Mako's heart. Still, he knew Bolin was a tough kid and would pull through if he managed to hit water and not rock.

Bolin was wishing he had hit the rocks at that moment. The one Tenzin had brought in saying it was Mako, clearly wasn't. Bolin was annoyed he hadn't been able to tell Tenzin about the screw-up in time. Fighting a Chi-Blocker who looked remarkably like Mako with some slight differences that only someone who knew him would know was disconcerting. Doing it injured made it hell for Bolin.

Bolin was glad for all the times Mako had made him keep practicing no matter how injured he was. He shoulders burned as he launched attacks at the Chi Blocker and tried to avoid getting hit at all cost. He knew exactly how it felt to lose his bending to a Chi Blocker and he didn't want to repeat the experience.

Bolin quickly fell into his usual rhythm he had when he was out on the field during his matches and struck out hard and fast. The first two shots missed and punched through the wall behind his opponent. The third found its mark and drove the Chi Blocker backward and floored him, opening him up to a knockout blow. Bolin smiled and coughed up a little blood from his injuries. "Never mess with a Fire Ferret. We're a scrappy bunch, don't you know that?"

Bolin limped out of his room and looked outside at the storm and sighed. He had heard on the radio that Amon had Mako and he would be damned if anyone was going to take his brother away from him. Passion and revenge shone in Bolin's normally sweet looking eyes as he headed for the place Amon had attacked Korra. He had a feeling that the statue of Zuko would be the perfect place for a repeat performance of the Avatar's failing yet again. Bolin would make sure that wouldn't happen.

Tenzin had decided to do the one thing he had sworn not to. He was going to go out in the storm and get to the shore and into Republic City no matter what it took. He ran over to the pens where he kept his flying bison and jumped on, giving him the command to take off. The wind was almost over powering and Tenzin had to put himself and his bison in a bubble of air he created just to stay up and moving. It was insane to try this, but then again, he hadn't seen Korra or Asami since the former had stormed out of the temple.

Despite Tenzin's best efforts, the wind barrier soon collapsed and he found himself at the mercy of the elements. Rain instantly soaked through his clothing and the wind chilled him to the core. He hoped that wherever Korra was she would stay warm. An hour had passed before Tenzin could start making out the buildings of Republic City, still some several hundred feet away. The wind was fierce, but Tenzin was determined to get to the city.

If he couldn't save Korra, then he would do the next best thing and save her friends. As he landed, he headed over to the hospital, only to find Bolin gone and a Chi Blocker completely unconscious. He tried to piece together where Bolin would have gone and then headed for the one place that would make any sense.

He headed for Zuko's statue.

Korra shivered and tried to find something dry to burn. While it wasn't perfectly dry, a log that was nearby would at least give them some fuel for a bit. Korra lit it on fire and the cave felt instantly warmer. "I have a feeling we're not getting out of here any time soon, not in this weather at least." Korra said as she did her best to warm up and dry off.

Asami was following suit and drying off as well as she said, "At least we'll have a fire for a little while. We'll have to wait until the eye of the storm passes over us to see where we are and figure out if we can even get back to the city."

Korra leaned against Asami and sighed, "All I wanted was to have a normal life as the Avatar. I didn't ask for any of this..."

Asami kissed Korra's forehead and said, "Being the Avatar is never normal."

The storm seemed to darken as Bolin slowly pulled himself through the city. He could feel that his injuries were bad and that they weren't going to get better by some miracle. As he pushed through the scattered ruins of shops and the waist deep water swirling in the streets, the only thing keeping him going was the fact that he brother needed someone to come save him and Bolin knew Korra was in worse shape than he was.

Bolin looked up as he heard a familiar sound and saw Tenzin's Sky Bison fly overhead. He waved and did everything he could to get his attention and was glad when he saw Tenzin descend a couple of buildings up the road. He sighed in relief as he climbed aboard.

"Man am I glad to see you." He said as he smiled at Tenzin.

Tenzin gave him a withering look as he said, "You should be in the hospital, not running around in this storm. I'm glad to see you're still okay despite your injuries."

Bolin sheepishly ducked his head at the admonishment. "Any word on Korra or Asami?"

Tenzin sighed heavily. Sometimes he felt like his father had left the world on his shoulders. "Korra and I had an argument and stormed out of the house. Asami followed her and I haven't seen either since. I have a feeling they may have gotten swept off the island. The shape Korra's in she can still bend but it take a lot out of her to do even simple things."

"That's not good news. We lose Korra, we lose Republic City." Bolin said as he looked out over the city and watched it get mercilessly pounded.

Tenzin kept his silence as the two of them slowly made progress toward their destination. Bolin was right and he knew it. Tenzin had hoped that somehow, maybe Korra would unconsciously go into the Avatar State and save the city from the storm but deep down he knew that even a fully realized Avatar wouldn't be able to touch a storm of this magnitude. Still, he hoped that Korra would survive and that he wouldn't lose Mako to Amon.

Korra was glad that the wood she had found had kept a hold of the flames so well. The whole cave felt warm now and her clothes felt a good bit drier. She sighed as she could still hear the sound of wind and rain outside. It felt like it would never end.

"You held onto me when we were swept into the ocean, didn't you?" Asami asked.

Korra nodded and said, "I must have done it subconsciously. When I woke up here, you were still in my arms. I'm amazed I didn't lose you."

Asami nodded and hugged Korra, shivering slightly from still being chilled by the water. "I guess I owe you my life now. What with you saving it and all that."

"I just wish I was there for everyone else who needs me right now. Still, I'm glad you're safe and here with me Asami. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." Korra said as she returned Asami's hug.

The eye of the storm was slowly approaching the city and Amon wasn't going to take any chances with being caught up in the storm's far more brutal back half. He needed his plan to be done quickly, with no mistakes. He needed to show that, the heart of the storm that he saw wasn't a literal one. No, the calm he saw would be showing the benders of Republic City that there was a path open to them that would grant them peace.

Mako didn't want anything to do with Amon's plan and was still trying to figure out how he could escape despite knowing the odds against him were so far not in his favor that if he took the bet, he'd lose everything. Still he knew that there were only two ways out of being Amon's prisoner. Option one was to fight through the Equalists and maybe get out with his bending still intact.

The second option was one Mako didn't even want to consider. Giving up and letting Amon take his bending was the only other way out. Mako hoped that it wouldn't come to that. He knew it would take a miracle for him to get out of there without getting himself killed or worse. Still, as long as he still had even a small bit of hope, he would continue to hold on.

Mako tested his bonds again. Still just as tight as they had been initially. He recognized the way his hands had been bound. It was similar to what the Metalbenders in the police force used to deal with Firebenders. It completely covered the palms of his hands and the fabric was fireproof. Beyond this precaution, his feet had been tied down as well as anything else he could move to Firebend. Brute strength was the only thing that could break these bonds, but they were made of the same style of metal cable the police force used. They were virtually unbreakable to anyone but Metalbenders and very powerful Firebenders.

Mako silently prayed that Amon wouldn't notice the small glow on the wire that held his ankle in place. One of the few Firebending drills Mako had thought useless was now helping him. Maybe now all that time spent trying to keep the leaf from burning would pay off.

Tenzin and Bolin landed at the foot of the statue of Zuko and found themselves surrounded almost instantly by Equalists. Amon's Lieutenant stepped up onto a crate as he looked at the two benders and said, "My Lord, Amon, is not taking in any visitors at the moment, but I'm sure he would be happy to rid you of your curse."

Tenzin dropped into one of his familiar stances and said, "Get out of our way. Our business is with Amon."

Electricity crackled from the Lieutenant's weapons as he pointed them at Tenzin. "No, you will not get near Lord Amon. We will strike you down and take you to be...ooof!"

"Take us to be what?" Bolin said, having just struck the Lieutenant in the ribs with a fast low shot with Earthbending. "To kick your master's butt? Yeah, I think we'll let you do that."

Bolin's attack and words set off a fight that both he and Tenzin quickly dropped into the rhythm of. Lightning and thunder drowned out any sound and the rain made the ground slick and Bolin found himself bending mud every now and again to blind Chi Blockers. Tenzin was glad that his Airbending was powerful enough to overcome the wind blasting through the courtyard and every now and again he augmented one of Bolin's strikes to have more punch.

The two benders fought back to back, weaving a beautifully violent tapestry of ruined streets and unconscious bodies. It was a display of raw power and talent from both Bolin and Tenzin that put to shame some of even the best Pro Bending matches ever played.

The Lieutenant was taken aback by the ferocity of both Benders as they tore through his forces with what looked to him like effortless grace and composure. He braced himself and lashed out with his electric cudgels as Bolin got within striking range.

Bolin smiled to himself as he heard the crackle of electricity miss him by inches as he bent a rock directly up into the Lieutenant's chest. He looked at his opponent as he fell to the ground and as the lightning from the storm silhouetted him Bolin said, "Don't underestimate what someone with nothing to lose is capable of doing." He grabbed the Lieutenant and hauled him up off the ground and held him by the collar off the ground as he add, "Now, you are going to tell me where my brother is."

"I-in the station's clock-works. It's crawling with our brethren. You'll never make it through alive."

Bolin punched him in the stomach, winding him and causing him to pass out. "Who said anything about surviving? I just want my brother back and if dying is the way I succeed, I'll do it." He looked up at the clock on the station and said, "I'm coming for you Mako, just hold on a bit longer."

(Author's note: Well, that one took a bit longer to write than usual. Still, I'm sure all of you reading this will enjoy the update. Speaking of updates, if you haven't noticed, with the implementation of cover images for stories I had a friend of mine from IRC draw me up a cover for this and it turned out quite nicely I think. Gives this story a nice touch outside of the words on the page. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, next one will be up when it's done.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands.**


	8. Chapter 8: Avatar

The cave fell silent as the wind paused for a moment. Korra couldn't believe her ears and had to resist the urge to poke her head outside to check if it was safe to go outside. If she was wrong, the storm would sweep her back out into the ocean and away from Asami. As badly as she wanted to get back to the city and save Mako and find Bolin, Korra knew the leaving Asami would be the worst thing to do. She also knew that she was nowhere near her full strength yet.

"We'll make it out of this, Korra. I know we will." Asami said , trying to believe her own words as she spoke them. Part of her worried that those words were just a hollow lie and that this would be the last place she ever saw. If that was true though, she was happy to know that Korra would be right there with her.

Korra smiled slightly and gave Asami a hug. "I'm so sorry about all of this. I shouldn't have stormed out of the temple and gotten us into this mess. I feel even worse about Bolin and Mako getting all tied up in this."

"Don't blame yourself for what Amon did. There was nothing you could do about that."

"Yes there was. I could be a better Avatar and have mastered Airbending like I should have and just beaten him into the ground when I got the chance."

As Asami was about to speak a vision of Aang drowned out any sound Korra heard save for his voice.

"I too, would have struggled with Amon. He plans far ahead and never sets anything in stone and relies on being flexible to adjust his strategies and come out ahead no matter the turn of events. Beating him into the ground would likely have changed nothing. Killing him may not be a solution and would only cause a war bigger than the one he's currently behind. The biggest thing with Amon is that, he believes it is his destiny to remove bending from the world at large."

Korra was a bit surprised that Aang had shown up, but she was willing to listen and let him continue.

"I know what it is like to remove someone's bending permanently and the responsibility that entails. What Amon does is a perversion of the art and something seems to be different about it. It's not natural, the way he does it."

Korra looked at Aang and said, "How am I supposed to beat him?"

"You'll know how when you learn it." Aang said as he slowly vanished.

Asami was staring at Korra and waving her hand in front of her. "Um...Korra? You there?"

"Sorry about that, Asami. Aang had something to tell me. When we get out of here, I know we'll have to figure out a way to stop Amon and get everyone back. Aang said that, when the time came, I'd know what to do." Korra said, feeling a little more sure of herself.

"That's good, now we just have to figure out how to get back to the city." Asami said with a sigh.

A deep rumbling came up from the ground as the earth moved with obvious intent. Korra immediately recognized it as Earthbending and moved herself and Asami away from it as fast as she could.

When the dust settled a familiar face smiled at Korra. "Glad to see you two are okay."

Korra smiled and said, "Lin! I'm so glad you're here. Wait...how DID you get here?"

Lin smiled and said, "When Tenzin showed up in the city, I figured you had gone missing or had gone after Mako. I decided the best thing to do would be to search the outlying islands in the bay just in case you hadn't quite made it to shore yet. I got lucky finding you, that or destiny has a funny way of proving itself."

Korra hugged Lin and the three of them jumped back into the hole Lin had made. It was a long trek back into the city, but Lin kept them occupied by pestering them with questions about what had happened in the storm. Korra did her best to fill Lin in, but she knew one thing, fighting Amon right now would only end poorly for her and she let Lin know that.

"Hah, you sound like I did when mother was teaching me Metalbending. 'Come on you weak pathetic excuse for my daughter, bend that metal!' was all I heard for weeks. Then something clicked and I got it. Put a coin right into my mother's ribs. It was priceless. Granted we tore up the house and a good chunk of the nearby area in a good natured sparring match afterward, but nothing was as rewarding and seeing that look in mother's eyes after weeks of driving me into the ground. You never know what you are most capable of until you're driven to your lowest point Korra and I don't think you're quite as low as you think you are." Lin said, stopping to give Korra a pat on her shoulder.

The light at the other end of the tunnel was dim and was only brilliant when the flash of lightning lit the area up. Korra stared up the road to where Amon was and felt the rain soak through her clothes yet again. Something about this time would be different. The thought just slipped into her mind like a quiet suggestion and then it was gone, leaving Korra with a sense of peace about herself despite her still healing injuries.

"Let's go get us our friend back and let's go put Amon down for good this time. I'm sick of playing his games." Korra said, her eyes burning with what could only be described as cold fury and passion.

The rush through the city was anything but easy. The wind and rain made it beyond hell to gain any ground with ease. It always felt like, the more steps they took toward their goal, the farther away it got. After a long while they finally reached the place where Tenzin and Bolin had finally come to ground.

"OH thank the spirits...Lin I'm so glad you found her." Tenzin said, his eyes full of happiness at seeing Korra alive.

"It wasn't easy Tenzin, the storm beat the hell out of these two and it wasn't easy to track down someone who had been swept almost out of the city entirely."

"Still…I am glad they are safe."

"Yes, but Mako isn't." Korra said looking like she was just about itching for a fight. "We have to go save him."

"_You_ are not doing anything. Lin, myself and Boiln will head up and take on Amon. You and Asami need to get back to a safe place."

"Asami and I _**need**_ to do nothing of the sort." Korra said hotly. "We are going to save Mako together or not at all. Amon needs to be stopped. I'm not going to let him terrorize one of my best friends while I sit idly by and do NOTHING. Not happening Tenzin. Not while I can still move."

"I see." Tenzin said gravely. "Very well then. We will all go put a stop to this."

The storm raged around them as they started toward the station. For a place that ordinarily looked like any other place in the city, the station had a very ominous look to it. Maybe it was the storm's doing, but the was a bad feeling that Korra could not shake.

The storm only worsened the closer they got to Amon. The station only provided so much cover, and the winds still howled around them as the five of them worked their way through the station. It wasn't until they were a good ways up the stairs leading to the clock tower that Korra made a comment.

"Something feels off. You'd think with Amon being here that there would be hundreds of Chi blockers everywhere, but we haven't encountered a single one."

Tenzin nodded and everyone was on their guard as they reached the top of the tower and into the room that held the only window in the whole tower. It overlooked the courtyard they had just left, and as soon as Korra and the rest rushed in they noticed one thing.

No one was there.

"Damn it! We missed him again." Korra said, doing her best to hold back her anger at failing again.

"I don't think so." Said Bolin. "Look at these chains. They were melted by Firebending. I think Mako might have tried to escape, and if I know my brother, he probably succeeded."

"No. He didn't." Lin said, pointing outside with a sad look on her face.

Lightning flashed and illuminated the courtyard as they all looked out. There, standing at the foot of the statue was Amon, with Mako at his feet slumped over.

"You BASTARD!" Korra yelled as all common sense left her and she rushed through the window out into empty air.

Everyone near her all yelled after her, not believing what they saw.

Amon smiled to himself as he watched the Avatar toss herself out of the window. Assuming she survived the fall, he had the upper hand. After all, he did have a hostage.

Korra sped toward the ground and gathered the rain around her into a wave to slow her fall by drawing it up into a slowly relaxing pillar, guiding her feet to ground. There was nothing left in her mind but anger and rage as she looked at Amon from the slight indent her impact had created. Her eyes shone with an almost incandescent blue and the sound of her voice was the sound of legion.

"Amon! You have gone too far with your crimes and for that you will pay with your life! The Spirits have cast their judgment and have found you beyond forgiveness."

Amon's body language shifted from that of confident defiance to one of genuine horror. He had thought carelessly about the one aspect of an Avatar no one wanted to see used against them. The Avatar State had always been something he had known about, but he had always assumed the Avatar had to have known all the Bending arts to utilize it.

He smirked in fear and said boldly, "Then the let the Spirits judge. The blood of this child will be on their hands then."

Amon made to strike at Mako, aiming to take his bending quickly and force Korra out of the Avatar State.

The strike went nowhere as metal bands surrounded his wrists and bound them to the earth. He looked over and saw Lin using her bending art to hold him in place. Panic spread over his face as he looked back at Korra who was summoning up a hell-storm.

Fire, Earth and Water swirled around Korra as she directed the three elements and made to strike at Amon. As she did, the last element she had been struggling with for the past several weeks came to her and added to the attack. She morphed the elements into a spiraling spear, each element swirling around the other as she struck out at Amon.

Amon closed his eyes and waited for the end to come. Silently hoping his ploy would work.

Korra's face contorted as her strike stopped inches from Amon's face, her arm contorting oddly. Snapped out of her Avatar State by the sudden attack, she looked around for the culprit.

"Looking for me?" Said Amon. "That's right Avatar. I am a Bloodbender. I have grown so sick of seeing this world fall apart under the guide of the Benders and I want nothing more than to stop that cycle to bring peace. Isn't that a common goal of ours?"

"I will never have anything in common with a monster." Korra spat back at Amon as she dove back into a now familiar feeling, fully accessing her Avatar State, breaking Amon's hold.

"I told you once and I am not overly fond of repeating myself. You are going to pay for your crimes Amon." Korra trapped Amon's feet and hands in earth and made sure to not give him any opportunity to strike back.

Amon's mask fell off and he smiled evilly at Korra as he said, "Your word is law Avatar. Kill me. Stare into my eyes as you do it. I will haunt you until you die. I will…"

Amon's speech stopped short as his body arched and writhed, covered in electricity.

"You won't do a damn thing." Mako said weakly, his face covered in cuts and bruises. "Rot in the Spirit World."

~A year later~

Korra sighed as she sat through another sunset leaning against Asami.

"What's on your mind sweetheart?" Asami asked as she kissed Korra's forehead.

"Just thinking about what happened a year ago."

"That's behind us, no sense in dwelling on it." Asami gave her girlfriend a hug, comforting her.

"I know, but...were we right in letting Amon live?" Korra asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

"I would hardly call what happened to Amon after that living. I'm just glad Tenzin stepped in and stopped Mako. I never knew you could redirect lightning like that."

Korra kissed Asami and quietly said, "You know…I really do love you. That time in the cave on the island made me really think about it. I don't want to ever lose you."

Asami smiled and returned Korra's kiss. "You won't. Besides, rumor has it that it's not against tradition for the Avatar to get married."

"Korra and Asami sittin' in a tree. K, I, S, S, I, N, G!" Bolin said in a sing-song tone from behind a nearby tree.

"DAMN IT BOLIN! WE WERE HAVING A MOMENT!" Korra said as she playfully sent a blast of water at Bolin.

They all laughed as the sun continued to set. Korra couldn't help but think that, everything was going to work out in the end and that, now there was nothing that would keep her from having Asami in her life.

And she knew that, no matter what came next, the adventure would continue.

(Holy. GOD. Worst writer's block, EVER. Couple that with a job that's been keeping me super busy and what do you get? A super late update. Sorry to keep you all waiting. I tried to not spoil too much from the actual series, but with how much time has passed, and now that the series is actually done, I don't think you folks will mind it all that much. So. Here we are at the end of things once more. Needless to say I will keep writing, but it may be a while before anything new comes up here. I had a lot of fun with this one. Hopefully you all have enjoyed the story and will continue to enjoy the things I write as time goes on. The adventures will always continue as long as there are those who will continue to put words to a page and tell the tales.)

**Shinobi of the Onyx Sands**


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